Latest Coronavirus News: Oxford Vaccine Professor Warns of New Flu Pandemic | The independent

People in every county in England and Wales are overwhelmingly prepared to support local closures if coronavirus breaks out in their area, according to a new survey.

Many of the restrictions have been lifted after signs of success appeared in preventing the spread of the infection, but the strategy depends on the willingness of local populations to temporarily give up the freedoms that people in other parts of the country can. enjoy.

Today’s YouGov poll suggested that only a minority of adults anywhere in the country would “oppose” or “strongly oppose” local closures if they were called in their areas.

Scientists See Disadvantages of Major Covid-19 Vaccines

The high-profile Covid-19 vaccines developed in Russia and China are based on a common cold virus that many people have been exposed to, potentially limiting their effectiveness, some experts say.

CanSino Biologics’ vaccine, approved for military use in China, is a modified form of adenovirus type 5 or Ad5.

The company is in talks to obtain emergency approval in several countries before completing large-scale trials, the Wall street journal reported last week.

A vaccine developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, approved in Russia earlier this month despite limited testing, is based on Ad5 and a second less common adenovirus.

Anna Durbin, a vaccine researcher at Johns Hopkins University, said: “Ad5 worries me only because a lot of people have immunity.

“I’m not sure what their strategy is … it may not be 70% effective. It may be 40% effective, and that’s better than nothing, until something else comes along.”

Vaccines are considered essential to end the pandemic.

Herman Cain’s Twitter account posted that Covid-19 was “not as deadly” as claimed, just weeks after the former Republican presidential candidate died from the virus.

The prominent conservative businessman died of the virus in July after spending weeks in critical condition.

Cain’s Twitter account has continued to post multiple times a day after his death, most commonly to share dubious articles. Western journal, one of which provided the basis for Monday’s coronavirus claim.

The EU offers 400 million euros for the vaccine initiative

The European Commission has said it will contribute 400 million euros to an initiative led by the World Health Organization to buy Covid-19 vaccines.

The initiative, dubbed COVAX, aims to purchase 2 billion doses by the end of 2021 of potential Covid-19 injections from various vaccine manufacturers.

The EU Commission is negotiating advance vaccine purchases with various drug manufacturers on behalf of the 27 EU states and has said in recent weeks that EU governments cannot purchase vaccines through parallel procurement plans.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said: “Today, the Commission announces a contribution of 400 million euros to COVAX to work together to purchase future vaccines for the benefit of low- and middle-income countries.”

The Commission added in a statement that it was ready, together with the EU states, “to put experience and resources into practice within COVAX to accelerate and expand the development and manufacturing of a global supply of vaccines for citizens of all over the world, in poor countries and rich countries. “

Students are at risk of being excluded for ‘malicious coughing’

Students are at risk of being excluded for “maliciously coughing” or making “inappropriate” jokes about the coronavirus pandemic, some schools have warned.

Ark Alexandra Academy in Hastings, East Sussex, has established a list of “coronavirus red lines” that will result in fixed-term exclusions for students in the event they are violated.

These include “deliberate or malicious” coughs or sneezes, “humorous and inappropriate comments or statements” related to Covid-19, and “intentional physical contact with any other person.”

In a letter to parents in August, Jerome Scafe, associate director of the network, said: “Any student who needs to have a fixed-term exclusion during the pandemic, will not return to mainstream circulation until a risk assessment and we can be sure that the student will meet all of our expectations. “

Meanwhile, Ark Byron Primary Academy in Acton, west London, said in its letter to parents that if a student refuses to follow hygiene routines and social distancing instructions, he will be “immediately moved to a separate area” .

It said, “Some behaviors (eg deliberate coughing on another person) that were previously ‘just’ antisocial are now potentially extremely serious.”

A senior public health figure has made extraordinary revelations about the system to track and trace travelers arriving in the UK. Simon Calder reports.

After 16 coronavirus cases were linked to TUI flight 6215 from Zakynthos in Greece to Cardiff on Tuesday, August 25, Public Health Wales decided to go public to track the 193 passengers and crew on board.

Everyone arriving in the UK must complete a ‘Passenger Locator Form’ (PLF) with all their contact details as well as flight number and arrival time.

However, Dr Gwen Lowe, a communicable disease control consultant at Public Health Wales, told the BBC Today program that some of the travelers will not be contacted until a week after the flight.

While the coronavirus pandemic “threatens the survival” of British coastal cities, it could be a historic opportunity to transform long-forgotten communities, to the benefit of the entire country, experts have said. Colin Drury of The Independent.

Hong Kong students will return to school starting next month

Hong Kong will resume face-to-face classes at the school from September 23, as authorities in the Asian financial center aim to remove strict coronavirus restrictions that have kept some 900,000 students working at home for more than four months.

Kevin Yeung, the city’s education secretary, said Years 1, 5 and 6 would return on September 23, while the remaining age groups will return six days later.

The city government had said in early August that face-to-face classes would be suspended indefinitely as China’s special administrative region struggled to control a third wave of the coronavirus.

The reversal in policy comes with new daily cases that fell substantially to low triple digit one and two digits a few weeks earlier.

The Chinese government is also offering massive coronavirus testing for all Hong Kong residents starting this week.

The government is backing away from suggestions of a massive return of workers to offices this week, with a cabinet minister acknowledging that employers will not have the ability to accommodate all staff at their desks in a Covid-safe manner. Andrew Woodcock reports.

Boris Johnson has been accused of “intimidating” workers after a senior government source was quoted as saying that staff who continue to work from home may be “vulnerable” to firing.

Conservative supporter Robert Halfon insisted that it should be for employers, not ministers, to decide when it is safe for workers to return, warning that conservatives should not demand that “everyone must march from the suburbs to the cities in some kind of collectivization. forced ”.

The infographic below shows the current rally in Covid-19 cases in the UK

Graph showing the rebound in Covid-19 cases in the UK (Statista)